Leg. Indian affairs office

AN ACT Relating to creating the legislative office on Indian 1
affairs; amending RCW 44.80.020 and 44.90.020; reenacting and 2
amending RCW 44.04.260 and 43.88.230; adding a new chapter to Title 3
44 RCW; and providing an effective date. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. In November 1999, various leaders of 6
American Indian nations and the state met at the tribal and state 7
leaders' summit to strengthen the government-to-government 8
relationship and cooperation on issues of mutual concern. As a 9
product of that meeting, the leaders developed the new millennium 10
agreement wherein they made various commitments in the spirit and 11
mutual respect of the 1989 centennial accord, including a commitment 12
to encourage the legislature to establish a structure to address 13
issues of mutual concern to the state and tribes. The purpose of this 14
act is to carry out that commitment by establishing a new legislative 15
office on Indian affairs to provide educational and informational 16
resources to the legislature to further support the vision of the 17
centennial accord to achieve complete institutionalization of the 18
government-to-government relationship. 19
It is not the legislature's intent to replace the work of the 20
governor's office of Indian affairs, but rather to complement that 21
H-0182.5
HOUSE BILL 2435
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Lekanoff, Parshley, Ryu, Scott, Salahuddin,
Peterson, Obras, Pollet, Santos, Macri, and Hill
Read first time 01/13/26. Referred to Committee on State Government
& Tribal Relations.
p. 1 HB 2435
work by adding a legislative resource for the senate, the house of 1
representatives, and professional legislative staff.2
The legislature does not intend this new office to act as a 3
liaison between the legislature and tribal leaders or organizations. 4
However, in recognition of the new millennium agreement's 5
acknowledgment that intertribal organizations and associations serve 6
as an additional vehicle to advance the principles and objectives 7
contained in the centennial accord, it is the legislature's intent 8
that the legislative office on Indian affairs communicate with 9
intertribal organizations for the purpose of being well-informed of 10
developments and issues of mutual concern. 11
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply 12
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 13
otherwise.14
(1) "Office" means the legislative office on Indian affairs.15
(2) "Professional legislative staff" means all individuals 16
retained on a full or part-time basis whose primary responsibilities 17
require the exercise of judgment and discretion in policy-related 18
matters including, but not limited to, individuals who are involved 19
in the development of legislation. "Professional legislative staff" 20
does not include individuals retained primarily for clerical, 21
ministerial, or internal accounting and bookkeeping purposes.22
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The legislative office on Indian affairs 23
is created to provide informational resources relating to tribal 24
affairs to legislative members and professional legislative staff of 25
the senate, the house of representatives, and the office of the code 26
reviser. All operations of the office are subject to RCW 44.04.260.27
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The secretary of the senate and the 28
chief clerk of the house of representatives, in consultation with the 29
senate facilities and operations committee and the house executive 30
rules committee, shall employ a director of the office. The director 31
serves at the pleasure of the secretary of the senate and the chief 32
clerk of the house of representatives, who shall fix the director's 33
salary.34
(2)(a) The director serves as the executive and administrative 35
head of the office. 36
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(b) In accordance with an adopted personnel plan, the director 1
shall employ and fix the compensation for personnel required to carry 2
out the purposes of this chapter. 3
(c) The director may enter into contracts for: 4
(i) The sale, exchange, or acquisition of equipment, supplies, 5
services, and facilities required to carry out the purposes of this 6
chapter; and 7
(ii) The distribution of legislative information.8
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The office shall provide educational 9
and informational resources to legislative members and the 10
professional legislative staff of the senate, the house of 11
representatives, and the office of the code reviser including, but 12
not limited to:13
(a) Training as follows: 14
(i) One annual training on: Improving cultural awareness and 15
understanding of the state's tribal members; understanding tribal 16
sovereignty; the appropriate use of shared definitions and 17
terminology; legal issues impacting the government-to-government 18
relationship; best practices for policymaking when dealing with 19
policies that have the potential to impact tribal policies; the 20
similarities and differences between federally recognized tribes, 21
nonfederally recognized tribes, treaty tribes, nontreaty tribes, 22
state recognized tribes, urban tribal organizations, and other tribal 23
organizations; and other topics as the office deems appropriate and 24
necessary to further the purpose of this chapter; and25
(ii) As needed, training sessions as the office deems appropriate 26
to provide continuing education on tribal policy and issues of mutual 27
concern, including information on legal issues as they arise;28
(b) Assistance in locating educational and informational 29
resources relating to tribal affairs or tribal organizations; and30
(c) Expertise on the centennial accord, millennium agreement, and 31
the government-to-government relationship. 32
(2) The office shall coordinate with the statute law committee to 33
include in any bill drafting guide produced by the committee best 34
practices for drafting policy relating to tribes, including the 35
appropriate use of shared definitions and terminology.36
(3) The office may contract out for consultants as needed.37
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The annual training provided by the office 1
under section 5 of this act is mandatory for professional legislative 2
staff of the senate, house of representatives, and the office of the 3
code reviser. The directors of these work groups must ensure that 4
this annual requirement is met. Legislative members of the senate and 5
house of representatives as well as legislative staff who do not meet 6
the definition of professional legislative staff under section 2 of 7
this act are encouraged to attend the annual training.8
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Subject to RCW 44.04.260, all expenses 9
incurred, including salaries and expenses of employees, shall be paid 10
upon voucher forms as provided and signed by the director of the 11
legislative office on Indian affairs. Vouchers may be drawn on funds 12
appropriated by law for the office. The senate and house of 13
representatives may transfer moneys appropriated for legislative 14
expenses to the office.15
Sec. 8. RCW 44.80.020 and 2012 c 113 s 2 are each amended to 16
read as follows: 17
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 18
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 19
(1) "Director" means the director of the office of legislative 20
support services employed under RCW 44.80.040. 21
(2) "Legislative agencies" means: The joint legislative audit and 22
review committee, the joint transportation committee, the office of 23
the state actuary, the legislative evaluation and accountability 24
program committee, the office of legislative support services, the 25
((joint legislative systems committee )) legislative service center , 26
the legislative office on Indian affairs, and the statute law 27
committee. 28
(3) "Office" means the office of legislative support services.29
Sec. 9. RCW 44.04.260 and 2012 c 229 s 204 and 2012 c 113 s 6 30
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:31
The joint legislative audit and review committee, the joint 32
transportation committee, the select committee on pension policy, the 33
legislative evaluation and accountability program committee, the 34
office of legislative support services, the joint higher education 35
committee, and the ((joint legislative systems committee )) 36
legislative office on Indian affairs are subject to such operational 37
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policies, procedures, and oversight as are deemed necessary by the 1
facilities and operations committee of the senate and the executive 2
rules committee of the house of representatives to ensure operational 3
adequacy of the agencies of the legislative branch. As used in this 4
section, "operational policies, procedures, and oversight" includes 5
the development process of biennial budgets, contracting procedures, 6
personnel policies, and compensation plans, selection of a chief 7
administrator, facilities, and expenditures. This section does not 8
grant oversight authority to the facilities and operations committee 9
of the senate over any standing committee of the house of 10
representatives or oversight authority to the executive rules 11
committee of the house of representatives over any standing committee 12
of the senate. 13
Sec. 10. RCW 43.88.230 and 2012 c 229 s 205 and 2012 c 113 s 7 14
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:15
For the purposes of this chapter, the statute law committee, the 16
joint legislative audit and review committee, the joint 17
transportation committee, the legislative evaluation and 18
accountability program committee, the office of legislative support 19
services, the joint higher education committee, the office of state 20
actuary, the legislative office on Indian affairs, and all 21
legislative standing committees of both houses shall be deemed a part 22
of the legislative branch of state government. 23
Sec. 11. RCW 44.90.020 and 2024 c 333 s 1 are each amended to 24
read as follows: 25
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 26
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 27
(1) "Collective bargaining" means the performance of the mutual 28
obligations of the employer and the exclusive bargaining 29
representative to meet at reasonable times, except that neither party 30
may be compelled to negotiate during a legislative session or on 31
committee assembly days, to confer and negotiate in good faith, and 32
to execute a written agreement with respect to the subjects of 33
bargaining specified under RCW 44.90.090. The obligation to bargain 34
does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or to make a 35
concession unless otherwise provided in this chapter.36
(2) "Commission" means the legislative commission created in RCW 37
41.58.100 at the public employment relations commission, until the 38
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legislative commission expires on December 31, 2027. After December 1
31, 2027, "commission" means the public employment relations 2
commission created under RCW 41.58.010(1). 3
(3) "Confidential employee" means an employee designated by the 4
employer: (a) To assist in a confidential capacity, or serve as 5
counsel to, persons who formulate, determine, and effectuate employer 6
policies with regard to labor relations and personnel matters; or (b) 7
who as part of the employee's job duties has authorized access to 8
information that contributes to the development of, or relates to the 9
effectuation or review of, the employer's collective bargaining 10
policies, strategies, or process; or (c) who assists or aids an 11
employee with managerial authority. 12
(4) "Director" means the director of the office of state 13
legislative labor relations. 14
(5)(a) "Employee" means: 15
(i) Any regular partisan employee of the house of representatives 16
or the senate who is covered by this chapter; and 17
(ii) Any regular employee who is staff of the:18
(A) Office of legislative support services; 19
(B) Legislative service center; 20
(C) Office of the code reviser who, during any legislative 21
session, does not work full time on drafting and finalizing 22
legislative bills to be included in the Revised Code of Washington; 23
and 24
(D) House of representatives and senate administrations.25
(b) "Employee" also includes temporary staff hired to perform 26
substantially similar work to that performed by employees included 27
under (a) of this subsection. 28
(c) All other regular employees and temporary employees, 29
including employees in the legislative office on Indian affairs 30
created under section 3 of this act, casual employees, interns, and 31
pages, and employees in the office of program research and senate 32
committee services work groups of the house of representatives and 33
the senate , are excluded from the definition of "employee" for the 34
purposes of this chapter. 35
(6) "Employee organization" means any organization, union, or 36
association in which employees participate and that exists for the 37
purpose, in whole or in part, of collective bargaining with 38
employers. 39
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(7) "Employee with managerial authority" means any employee 1
designated by the employer who, regardless of job title: (a) Directs 2
the staff who work for a legislative chamber, caucus, agency, or 3
subdivision thereof; (b) has substantial responsibility in personnel 4
administration, or the preparation and administration of the 5
employer's budgets; and (c) exercises authority that is not merely 6
routine or clerical in nature and requires the use of independent 7
judgment. 8
(8) "Employer" means: 9
(a) The chief clerk of the house of representatives, or the chief 10
clerk's designee, for employees of the house of representatives;11
(b) The secretary of the senate, or the secretary's designee, for 12
employees of the senate; and 13
(c) The chief clerk of the house of representatives and the 14
secretary of the senate, acting jointly, or their designees, for the 15
regular employees who are staff of the office of legislative support 16
services, the legislative service center, and the office of the code 17
reviser. 18
(9) "Exclusive bargaining representative" means any employee 19
organization that has been certified under this chapter as the 20
representative of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit.21
(10) "Labor dispute" means any controversy concerning terms, 22
tenure, or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or 23
representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, 24
changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of employment 25
with respect to the subjects of bargaining provided in this chapter, 26
regardless of whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation 27
of employer and employee. 28
(11) "Legislative agencies" means the joint legislative audit and 29
review committee, the statute law committee, the legislative ethics 30
board, the legislative evaluation and accountability program 31
committee, the office of the state actuary, the legislative service 32
center, the office of legislative support services, the joint 33
transportation committee, and the redistricting commission.34
(12) "Office" means the office of state legislative labor 35
relations. 36
(13) "Supervisor" means an employee designated by the employer to 37
provide supervision to legislative employees as part of the 38
employee's regular and usual job duties. Supervision includes 39
directing employees, approving and denying leave, and participating 40
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in decisions to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, 1
discharge, direct, reward, or discipline employees, or to adjust 2
employee grievances, when the exercise of the authority is not of a 3
merely routine nature but requires the exercise of individual 4
judgment, regardless of whether such duties are the employee's 5
primary duties and regardless of whether the employee spends a 6
preponderance of the employee's time exercising such duties. However, 7
"supervisor" does not include a legislative assistant to a legislator 8
of the senate or house of representatives. 9
NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 1 through 7 of this act 10
constitute a new chapter in Title 44 RCW.11
NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. Sections 5 and 6 of this act take effect 12
July 1, 2027.13
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